At Gateway Church in Austin, we continued a series looking at the early church in the book of Acts.
What if faith was never meant to be boring, but an adventure? The book of Acts is the story of ordinary people encountering an extraordinary God, and stepping into a life they never expected.
It started with an invitation. To wait. To be filled. To trust God in a new way. And that invitation became an adventure; full of courage, purpose, and impact.
And here’s the best part, that same invitation is still open to you. No matter where you’ve been
or where you’re starting, there’s a place for you in the story.
ACTS: The Invitation… and The Adventure.
Don’t just watch it…step into it.
Digging Deeper:
Message Video from Gateway South Austin:
Message Audio from Gateway South Austin:
Message Notes:
Acts 19:1-20
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
In this series, we are looking at how faith was never meant to be boring, but instead seeing our walk with God as the adventure it is supposed to be. The book of Acts is the story of ordinary people encountering an extraordinary God, and stepping into a life they never expected.
Let me just remind you of some of the key places and people in this passage using the Acts booklets we’ve been giving out. If you haven’t gotten one, get one today before you leave, use it during the week to help you in your time connecting with God, and bring it back next week. I’ve seen more and more people taking notes during the message which can be a great way to stay focused and even apply what God may be saying to you.
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Acts 19:1-2
So in this passage two of the key places include:
Corinth and Ephesus – Corinth was in Greece so in the continent of Europe. Paul was going from Europe back to Asia as Ephesus is in modern day Turkey.
These two cities were places where Paul planted churches which were becoming more and more filled with Gentiles with fewer and fewer Jews.
Gentiles were pagans worshiping other gods. They had large temples to their gods. They made sacrifices and even had temple prostitutes so there was a great deal of immorality.
We can still see remnants of these ancient cities including some of the temples. Last week we saw the Acropolis which is in Athens and includes the ruins of several temples at the top of the hill.
In Corinth you can still see the Temple of Apollo.
In Ephesus, you can still see a great deal of ancient ruins as you can see as we walked down this ancient street. We saw little temples and even an ancient bathroom.
Most impressive is the theater where they still do concerts!
This is the theater where there was almost a riot at the end of Ephesians 19.
Now at the time of the early church, the Jewish people were often seen as scapegoats. When bad things happen like an earthquake or hurricane, the Jews and now the Gentiles following Jesus were seen as the cause because they were not making sacrifices to the angry gods and goddesses they worshiped. The Jews worshiped One God and followed the law which we have as our Old Testament.
So now let’s look at the key people mentioned in this story:
Apollos, John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul, Seven Sons of Sceva and Evil Spirits, Disciples of Jesus
Apollos
The first key character in our passage today is Apollos who was from Alexandria, Egypt, a major hub for Greek philosophy and Jewish scholarship, he was deeply learned and “mighty in the Scriptures.”
Interestingly enough, just like we read about the disciples of Jesus in this passage that had not yet received the Holy Spirit, that was Apollos’ experience until the fullness of the story of Jesus was revealed to him through Paul’s friends Priscilla and Aquila.
So it says that Apollos stayed back in Corinth while Paul went on to Ephesus, and he found disciples of Jesus to make sure they fully understood the message of Jesus because he just left Apollos who had not understood at first.
John the Baptist
So what is John’s baptism?
This goes back to John the Baptist. John was the cousin of Jesus. He was announcing the Messiah was on his way, pointed out to his disciples that Jesus was the Messiah, and eventually was killed for speaking truth to power.
So in Ephesus, these disciples of Jesus had not heard about the Holy Spirit. They had not heard about the miracle of Pentecost where the 120 disciples saw the Spirit come down like fire and fill them and enable them to communicate in the languages of all the people from all the nations represented at that Jewish festival in Jerusalem. If you missed that message, go back and listen to it.
Paul explains the meaning of John’s baptism when he says: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” – Acts 19:4
They didn’t want to miss out on something God was offering so the passage continues…
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
So just like in Acts 2, but to a much smaller scale this time as there were 12 there, new believers could speak in tongues and could proclaim the message of Jesus with boldness!
The Holy Spirit
So we need to talk about the Holy Spirit.
The Bible teaches that there is One God who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit.
Jesus promised that when He left to reign at the right hand of the Father in heaven over the Kingdom of God, that He would send His Spirit to be within each of us who follows Him.
Paul described it this way in a letter to the church in Ephesus (many of whom were probably these 12 mentioned in this story).
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory…. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:3, 13b-14, 18-21
I highly encourage you, read through all of Ephesians 1 as it is filled with amazing promises of who you are in Christ! We have every spiritual blessing in Christ and that includes the Holy Spirit who gives us a glimpse of what we will one day fully have in God’s presence in the new heaven and new earth! We have the same power that rose Jesus from the dead!!
So let me ask you: have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?
The short answer is this: If you have surrendered your life fully to Jesus, you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Now we believe that our access to the Spirit may feel less sometimes and more other times. When we choose to go our own way, the voice of God or the Spirit’s whisper to us becomes harder to hear.
Fortunately, we are told that when we wander and choose selfishness rather than Christlikeness, all we have to do is turn back to Him.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9
Make confession and repentance a daily exercise. Go back through your day and confess those times you failed to follow Jesus or chose your own way. But also go back, and review the ways you tried to connect with God through prayer or the Scriptures, listening to a message or worship music and then try to see ways God was speaking to you as a result.
Now there are other believers that teach that this happens separately and they use this passage as an example of that. The more extreme versions of this teach that if you don’t speak in tongues then you’ve never actually been filled with the Spirit.
Paul talks about tongues as a spiritual gift that some experience. For some it is the ability to communicate in a different language. Paul described this gift in his own life as a private prayer language. But the Bible does not communicate that speaking in tongues is mandatory or proof of a genuine conversion
In reading the Bible, we have to understand the type of literature we are reading in order to determine how to apply it to our lives. Acts is history so it is descriptive and not prescriptive.
The letters of Paul are prescriptive because He is writing new believers to help them know how to live in unity as a multi-ethnic community.
A charismatic/Pentecostal leader asked a protestant pastor, are you filled with the Spirit: “Yes, but I leak.”
While interpretations of when and how it happens differ, all traditions agree that the Holy Spirit represents God’s living presence dwelling within believers, transforming their character, and enabling them to serve others.
Before we end our time today, we are going to create some space for you to connect your heart with God, and we are going to ask Him to fill us with His Spirit in a very real, tangible, and beautiful way.
As our campus pastor in Buda says: “If God is offering something on the menu, I want to try it!”
The Apostle Paul
But before we get there, we need to look at 4 more significant players in this story – Paul, the seven sons of Sceva, evil spirits, and the disciples of Jesus.
We have talked about Paul a lot in this series because he takes center stage in the book of Acts. I think the author of Acts, a doctor named Luke, does this on purpose. The disciples were told by Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations and to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, and they do that! But what’s amazing is that the message of Jesus is spreading beyond those who walked with Jesus to new people including those who opposed them at first.
As we saw in Acts 8 Paul was extremely devoted to his view of God. He was trying to purify Israel so that the Messiah would come. He came to believe that violence was acceptable so he was there at the death of Stephen who was killed for proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and now rules at the right hand of God over His Kingdom.
He was miraculously confronted by Jesus in a vision on the road to Damascus as we saw in Acts 9. He was blinded and given sight. Then he became one who proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews and the Gentiles.
We are just reading a snippet of Paul’s adventures. He actually went on 3 missionary journeys throughout the Roman world.
And we read about Paul and letters from Paul, and it can sound like it all happened withing a few years of each other, but the timeline for Paul coming to faith in Acts 8 and then standing trial in Rome at the end of Acts takes place over the course of 30 years.
I also highly recommend a book by N.T. Wright called Paul: A Biography if you want to get to know the context and the timeline better.
Now Paul always started with the synagogues in every town he visited. If there was any resistance, he would then go to the Gentiles which we see happening here.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. – Acts 19:8-10
Paul planted multiethnic churches in the Middle East, in Asia, and in Europe. These were incredibly counter-cultural. Jews and Gentiles did not mix, and now they were in homes worshiping Jesus as the Messiah together!
We want to be like the early church, but we have to remember that in the early church there was a great deal of conflict, heresy, and immorality as you can see in the letters to the churches he planted and to the leaders he was investing in. Advancing the Kingdom of God through the local church is hard and messy because broken people are involved!
Paul was controversial as he proclaimed Jesus boldly even when it would lead to persecution. Even just reading a bit further in this passage he was at the scene of a riot in Ephesus as the people were threatened.
He also spoke for so long that a young man fell off the windowsill on the 2nd floor and died. Fortunately, Paul prayed and God healed the man.
In our culture, Paul has been often misunderstood. Since most of the New Testament are letters he wrote to real people, his words have been weaponized to oppress people – the very same people that Paul was convinced Jesus included and was inviting into His Kingdom!
It was Paul who wrote the following:
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” – Galatians 3:26-29
Now Paul was often in the middle of all sorts of chaos. In fact, later in Acts 19 there is a riot in Ephesus at that stadium I showed you earlier that still hosts concerts.
I also wanted to point out that people loved Paul as we see in Acts 20.
Paul may be bold enough to rebuke his friends and church family from time to time as we can read in his letters, but they loved him. After being with the church in Ephesus for a couple of years, he spends time with some of their leaders and shares his heart which included the following:
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace….” Acts 20:22-24
Now notice their response:
36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. – Acts 20:22-37
Paul was like a spiritual father to them!
When fathers are at their best, they love, provide, protect, guide, rebuke, discipline, and comfort and so much more.
You may have received that from your Dad or maybe from other men in your life or some sort of combination.
And we can be that to others who are not our own by serving as part of our church family.
What we discover from Paul is if we lived a fully surrendered, Spirit-filled life, we will experience persecution even as we experience the miraculous.
It’s miraculous that God was creating local churches filled with people from different backgrounds and in spite of the challenges and disagreements and rebukes and discipline and accountability, they loved each other! Let’s not overlook this miracle!
But we also see other types of miracles that stand out even more and aren’t taken for granted.
Paul experienced God moving in him and through him in miraculous ways such as what we see in our passage which says:
“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. – Acts 19:11-12
Now in most cultures across the planet, people have no problem believing in the supernatural – both in miracles and in evil forces. It’s really just the Western world over the past few hundred years that doubts the supernatural which is a shame because we miss out on so much!
So now let’s look at this fascinating and terrifying story about Sceva and his sons and the evil spirits.
Seven Sons of Sceva and Evil Spirits
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. – Acts 19:13-16
This is a terrifying story. A demon-possessed man attacks the sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva as they were trying to access the power of Jesus they saw in Paul without a relationship with Jesus. As a result they were beaten by this man.
I don’t know if you have ever encountered someone who has been influenced by darkness or even demon-possessed, but that alone is scary. This story involves a violent attack.
Now it seems the occasional horror movie that comes out at Halloween has been eclipsed by horror movies coming out all year long. Maybe that says something about our culture. We are intrigued by horror like the way people slow down when there is a car wreck on the other side of the freeway.
And even in the Christian world of podcasts and pastors, there are more people talking about demons, the Nephilim, and evil spirits than I can ever remember in my lifetime.
So do we need to start studying the darkness and become experts in the darkness?
Do we need to know the names of the types of evil spirits we might face or even their origins?
Here’s what we can draw from this:
The supernatural realm is real.
Jesus has the power to remove the darkness.
We need to have a holy fear of God.
We don’t need to fear evil and we certainly should not flirt with evil.
We are to “hate what is evil and cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9) as Paul writes to the Romans.. That means we are to choose what is good and reject the darkness.
How do you flirt with evil?
Are you watching pornography or shows that should be labeled as pornographic?
Do you let your mind imagine all the worst things that could happen in this world?
Have you let your moral compass slip?
Have you allowed yourself to have feelings for someone you shouldn’t?
Have you become selfish in your relationships with your spouse or with family or with friends?
Do you think more about money than you do our mission?
How are you spending your free time? Your money? Your talent?
It that same letter to the Romans where Paul is encouraging them to give up their idols and instead worship the one true God he writes:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:1-3
Jesus said to truly live, we must die to ourselves and follow Him! Paul reiterates that idea here.
Let’s dive into this story a little deeper. How did people respond to this terrifying episode?
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. – Acts 19:17-20
Notice how all who heard this story were seized with fear and held the name of Jesus in high honor!
Holy fear of the Lord is different than what you might think.
Some of us have a religious view of God where we are more superstitious where we are afraid God might strike us down if we do this or do that.
Others of us have more of a transactional view of our relationship with God where we feel like if we do certain good things then God will use us blessings.
The Holy Fear of God
The Bible gives us a different view of fearing God.
“Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111:10
According to John Bevere in his book The Awe of God, the fear of God is not being afraid that God wants to harm you, but having such awe, reverence, and love for Him that you desire to honor and obey Him in every area of your life. It means recognizing God’s greatness and holiness so deeply that pleasing Him becomes more important than pleasing yourself or other people. In other words, the fear of God is loving and honoring Him so deeply that the thought of losing intimacy with Him is more frightening than losing anything else.
Do you fear people?
Do you fear bad health?
Do you fear financial problems?
Followers of Jesus are invited to fear God above all else because He gives life, He can be trusted, He loves us, and He promises to be with us when things are difficult.
Another way to say this comes from John Brown, a Scottish pastor from the 1700s wrote:
“To fear God is to love Him so that His frown is your greatest dread, and His smile is your greatest delight.”
― John Brown
You see, John Brown defines the “fear of the Lord” not as terror, but as a deep, affectionate reverence.
You see, we do not have to fear the darkness when we stay in the light!
We do not need to focus on evil spirits when we hold onto the Holy Spirit!
When a holy fear of God sweeps through a community, people are quick to confess their sin and surrender their idols.
We might have little stone idols we pray to, but we do have idols. An idol is anything we go to for comfort or strength instead of going to God. We even turn gifts from God into idols.
We can turn our families, our careers, our finances, our health, our stuff, and our friends into idols. An idol is anything we go to instead of Jesus.
What happens in Ephesus is remarkable. The Gospel transforms lives so deeply in Ephesus that it disrupts commerce and culture.
Spirit-led discipleship challenges idols and may cost comfort, but leads to deep transformation.
Following Jesus isn’t just counter-cultural — it’s costly.
The Disciples of Jesus
So what does it mean to be a disciple?
Of all the people and places we will discuss, this is the one I want you to remember most because we are invited to be disciples of Jesus. If you have said “yes” to following Jesus then that means you have acknowledged that you need what Jesus did on the cross to count for you. You have asked for his forgiveness and also his leadership in your life.
So let me give you a definition to help you live this out.
Disciples of Jesus are those who are:
Following Jesus
Being changed by Jesus
Committed to the mission of Jesus
A disciple of Jesus is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus.
I want to do a quick self assessment.
From 0-10 with 0 being “not at all” and 10 being “with all my heart” how would you rate yourself when it comes to following Jesus?
A 10 is someone who is looking for Jesus’ guidance throughout the day and then obeying what you sense He is guiding you to do.
A 5 rating means you try sometimes and forget to try other times.
Now from 0-10 with 0 being “not at all” and 10 being “with all my heart” how would you rate yourself when it comes to being changed by Jesus?
0 means you aren’t trying, you are discouraging others from trying, and you aren’t even asking Jesus for help.
10 means you are getting help from community, from counseling, from recovery and you are staying free of whatever temptations you have had in the past. You aren’t perfect but you are trying to be more like Jesus.
Now from 0-10 with 0 being “not at all” and 10 being “with all my heart” how would you rate yourself when it comes to being committed to the mission of Jesus?
0 means you aren’t trying and maybe even trying to discourage others from trying.
10 means you are praying for your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and looking for ways to serve them and when the time comes share with them.
10 means every day you are bringing more beauty and more justice to your world.
This is really important because as we have been pointing out a lot over the years, this was Jesus’ desire for all who follow Him.
His last words to the disciples before ascending to the right hand of the Father where He rules to this day over the Kingdom of God which is being advanced on earth life by life were these:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20
Now what’s amazing is that Jesus is telling this to the same people who abandoned Him when he was arrested, but now after He gives this great commission, they travel to the ends of the earth telling people Jesus was alive. Many of them died proclaiming the message of Jesus!
They traveled as far as Africa and even some say Thomas went all the way to India!
So what happened?
They saw Jesus crucified but then they saw Him alive!
Then they saw Him ascend to the Father, and then they were filled with the Holy Spirit!
We will come back to the Holy Spirit in a moment because He is critical to the story of the early church and to the modern day church.
But think back to our assessment of being a disciple of Jesus and look at the 3 things Jesus said to do.
After promising to be with them and sending them out with His authority, he sent them out to do 3 things:
The Great Commission:
1. Go and make disciples of all nations
2. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
3. Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Some of us had someone help us say yes to following Jesus and even got baptized!
But too often, we didn’t have someone help us discover the beauty of being a disciple and had others teach us to obey everything Jesus commanded.
That’s the invitation!
Do you want to follow Jesus as His disciple?
Disciples of Jesus are those who are:
Following Jesus
Being changed by Jesus
Committed to the mission of Jesus
Are you a fan of Jesus or a true follower of Jesus?
Do you believe all the right things with your head but refuse to follow Him with your heart?
What idols in your life or community need to be burned down?
Following Jesus confronts false priorities
Transformation requires letting go
Freedom is found in full surrender
So I want to create space for you to reconnect with God or connect with Him for the first time.
We are going to focus on removing the idols and the evil in our hearts and instead fill our hearts and minds with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is a person not a vague force out there.
The filling of His Spirit can lead us to an awareness of areas of our lives that need to be confessed and forgiven.
The filling of His Spirit can lead us to experience a sense of His peace and power.
The filling of His Spirit can lead us to freedom from a particular struggle or temptation.
The filling of His Spirit can lead to a demonstration of God’s spiritual gifts such as healing or a word of knowledge or tongues or administration or leadership.
If you aren’t sure what to pray, I want to guide you in a prayer that will be on the screen and in the Digging Deeper [www.gatewaychurch.com/digging-deeper] this week.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the gift of Your presence. I come to You today according to Your promise in Luke 11:13, asking that You fill me completely with Your Holy Spirit.
I confess that I cannot walk this life in my own strength. Remove any selfishness, pride, worry, or any darkness I have let into my life that blocks me from You. I yield my heart, mind, and actions to Your control.
Holy Spirit, give me the wisdom to make the right choices today. Give me the boldness to share Your love with others.
Let Your fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—be visible in everything I do.
Empower me to fear you alone and to honor You in my thoughts, words, and deeds.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, look for ways that God will answer this today and this week.
Spend time in prayer every day and read through John 13-17 this week.
Get rid of things that are distracting you or tempting you back into the darkness.
Tell someone else who is following Jesus – someone in your ministry team or small group or you aren’t yet connected that way, move towards doing so. Tell someone who follows Jesus what you are surrendering and ask for their ongoing encouragement and prayer.
If this is the first time you have ever surrendered your life to Jesus, then let us know using the connect card. Use the QR code on the seat in front of you. We want to help you in your relationship with Jesus.
